Bob, Prior to 2009 when I upgraded to 737 CA I could have written your first paragraph. After the Captains Leadership Class, or whatever they called it, those notions died a sudden death. The last speaker for the 2-day course was our COO. By the time he finished the 20 of us couldn't believe what he had just witnessed. "Since everyone you've heard from works for me, and since I have an hour and a half I'll only say a few things and open it up to Q and A. Now, what I want to...." That next sentence went on for an hour and 15 minutes before he finished it. Several times during ranting and lecturing he worked himself up into such a fury that spittle flew a couple of feet from his mouth, but we had said nothing. We couldn't, his words came too rapidly and the subject changed without warning. When we finally had a chance to speak we were too awestruck to say much. The man actually did get one message across and that is, "We're doomed." What a major buzz-kill after waiting 19 years to upgrade. The next example was the HR chief who admitted, bragged even, during Ch 11 hearings about lying to employees and unions over the years. What a surprise it was he was fired for that instead of being awarded another "retention bonus." Ok, maybe they weren't morons, but they faked it really well. Eric
> On 09/12/2025 6:17 PM EDT Robert Ditchey via Mifnet <mifnet@lists.mifnet.com> > wrote: > > > > I feel that it is finally time for someone to reply to Dan Salon’s e-mail > about “moronic” leadership at American Airlines. While I feel that it is > entirely permissible to criticize corporate leadership in our society, it is > unbefitting of the membership of Mifnet to use this type of language. > Corporations in the US are never led by “morons.” Executives may make poor > decisions or they may come up short in the daily challenges that they face, > but they are not morons. Never. Further, only in the most extraordinary > cases do they make decisions alone. I know this because I was there. > Corporate management is a team sport. Always. As a matter of fact, there > are checks and balances in the corporate world including the stock market, > banks, and the SEC. > > > > By background, I am a Navy product. I have lived my life knowing that > battles are not won on the Flag Bridge of the Battle Group. The Battle of > Midway was won in the cockpits of dozens of aircraft that attacked the > Japanese carriers. The Admiral wasn’t involved at all. D-Day was not won in > London in Eisenhower’s headquarters but on the beaches of Normandy where much > blood was shed. Same with Waterloo and every major battle ever fought in > history. Battles are won in blood and not in thoughts. Battles are won by > very young people, mostly very brave teenagers. > > > > Corporations succeed because they please customers. End of story. Airlines > succeed in the airplane’s cabin. It is the youngest that matter. > > > > In the airline business, the interaction that matters is between the customer > and the lowest ranking flight attendant or ticket agent. The pilots have a > significant responsibility as well. The President and CEO has very little > interaction with the customer. Wars are won in the trenches. > > > > The executives of American may be very important when it comes to financial > matters and when it comes to fleet decisions, but when it involves customers, > executives have no real involvement. As concerns decisions about crewing and > aircraft assignments, executives are simply not of any concern. The Mifnet > knows this, in a general sense. > > > > So Daniel, please hold back on the histrionics about the corporate set. It > does not reflect any real understanding of the airline business on your part, > which we do want to read. > > > > Where the executives do matter is in how they go about training the > teenagers. And executives never do the training themselves. The staff does > this. And these staff members are numerous in their teaching challenges. > > > > For the Battle of Midway, there were many hundreds of people who taught those > pilots how to fly and attack the Japanese carriers. All deserve credit. > Read Rick Atkinson’s “An Army at Dawn” to understand how we managed to train > the US Army for D-Day. It involved many thousands and several years. Don’t > give all the credit to Eisenhower. Some…yes.. but not all. > > > > Bob Ditchey > > > > From: Dan Solon via Mifnet <mifnet@lists.mifnet.com> > Sent: Friday, September 12, 2025 2:12 PM > To: mifnet@lists.mifnet.com > Cc: Dan Solon <dansolon....@gmail.com> > Subject: [Mifnet 🛰 74098] Re: Fw: American Airlines Sent The Wrong Plane to > Rome - Now It Could Owe Passengers $191,000 > > > > Tom, > > > > As argued previously, because the remaining shell of a once-great airline is > now being managed by morons. > > > > Daniel Solon > > > > On Fri, Sep 12, 2025 at 10:48 PM Tom Ronell via Mifnet > <mifnet@lists.mifnet.com mailto:mifnet@lists.mifnet.com> wrote: > > > > > > > That was a different issue, as you stated an issue of aircraft/airport > > compatibility - and was, arguably, the "wrong plane" for the flight. In > > this case, no issue with the aircraft and airport, just a different > > aircraft type than normally on the route, so crewing the return leg was the > > issue, requiring either a pre-positioned crew or a cancelled return flight. > > > > The question is why did they send a different type on that rotation? > > > > TR > > > > > > --------------------------------------------- > > > > From: Robert S. Distler via Mifnet <mifnet@lists.mifnet.com > > mailto:mifnet@lists.mifnet.com> > > To: mifnet@lists.mifnet.com mailto:mifnet@lists.mifnet.com > > CC: Robert S. Distler <r...@rsd.aero mailto:r...@rsd.aero> > > Date: 2025-09-12T17:56:02Z > > Subject: [Mifnet 🛰 74095] Re: Fw: American Airlines Sent The Wrong Plane to > > Rome - Now It Could Owe Passengers $191,000 > > > > > > > > Didn’t a similar issue arise when AA tried to send a 787-9 in place of a > > > -8 to Naples? It turned out the bigger airplane could not land at the > > > Naples airport, and so it was diverted to Rome. > > > > > > > > > > > > Bob Distler > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > From: Tom Ronell via Mifnet <mifnet@lists.mifnet.com > > > mailto:mifnet@lists.mifnet.com> > > > Sent: Friday, 12 September, 2025 04:48 > > > To: randy essell via Mifnet <mifnet@lists.mifnet.com > > > mailto:mifnet@lists.mifnet.com> > > > Cc: Tom Ronell <tron...@verizon.net mailto:tron...@verizon.net> > > > Subject: [Mifnet 🛰 74083] Re: Fw: American Airlines Sent The Wrong Plane > > > to Rome - Now It Could Owe Passengers $191,000 > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Not "wrong airplane" - what a misleading headline for clicks. > > > > > > All they needed to do is to pre-position a return crew in Rome on the > > > flight the day before. Or what they did: cancel that day's return flight > > > and use same crew the next day. BFD. > > > > > > TR > > > > > > > > > --------------------------------------------- > > > > > > From: randy essell via Mifnet <mifnet@lists.mifnet.com > > > mailto:mifnet@lists.mifnet.com> > > > To: mifnet@lists.mifnet.com mailto:mifnet@lists.mifnet.com > > > CC: Keady Jack <jjke...@aol.com mailto:jjke...@aol.com>; Wardell via > > > Mifnet David <mifnet@lists.mifnet.com mailto:mifnet@lists.mifnet.com>; > > > randy essell <randy.ess...@hotmail.com mailto:randy.ess...@hotmail.com> > > > Date: 2025-09-12T10:59:10Z > > > Subject: [Mifnet 🛰 74081] Re: Fw: American Airlines Sent The Wrong Plane > > > to Rome - Now It Could Owe Passengers $191,000 > > > > > > > > > > > This is pretty basic stuff. What have they done to our old airline…….. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > On Sep 11, 2025, at 10:46 PM, Jack Keady via Mifnet > > > > > <mifnet@lists.mifnet.com mailto:mifnet@lists.mifnet.com> wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Sent from the all new AOL app for > > > > > https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.aol.mobile.aolappkeady.there > > > > > may be inaccuracies herein > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Cc: > > > > > > > > > > > > Sent: Wed, Sep 10, 2025 at 20:48 > > > > > > > > > > > > Subject: American Airlines Sent The Wrong Plane to Rome - Now It > > > > > > Could Owe Passengers $191,000http://www.paddleyourownkanoo.com/ > > > > > > > > > > > > American Airlines Sent The Wrong Plane to Rome - Now It Could Owe > > > > > > Passengers $191,000 > > > > > > > > > > > > American Airlines is facing a compensation bill of more than > > > > > > $191,000 after it sent the wrong plane to pick up as many as 273 > > > > > > passengers from Rome, Italy, for an international flight back to > > > > > > Dallas Fort Worth. As reported by View From The Wing, the problem > > > > > > emerged on Thursday when American Airlines was forced to… > > > > > > > > > > > > 🔗 > > > > > > https://www.paddleyourownkanoo.com/2025/09/05/american-airlines-sent-the-wrong-plane-to-rome-now-it-could-owe-passengers-191000/ > > > > > > > > > > > > https://www.paddleyourownkanoo.com/2025/09/05/american-airlines-sent-the-wrong-plane-to-rome-now-it-could-owe-passengers-191000/ > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Revised: 20250507 > > > > You are receiving The Mifnet because you requested to join this list. > > > > The Mifnet is largely a labor of love, however the infrastructure isn't > > exactly cost-free. 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See instructions at: > > https://lists.mifnet.com/ > > > > * Manage your personal Mifnet SUBSCRIPTION at: > > https://lists.mifnet.com/ > > > > * For a list of all available Mifnet commands, SEND THIS MESSAGE via email: > > http://mifnet-requ...@lists.mifnet.com?subject=help > > > > * View The Mifnet LIST POLICIES and PRIVACY POLICY at: > > https://mifnet.com/index.php/policies > > > > * View instructions for Mifnet DELIVERY PROBLEMS at: > > https://mifnet.com/index.php/delivery-problems > > > > * View The Mifnet LIST ARCHIVE at: > > https://lists.mifnet.com/hyperkitty/list/mifnet@lists.mifnet.com/ > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Revised: 20250507 > > You are receiving The Mifnet because you requested to join this list. > > The Mifnet is largely a labor of love, however the infrastructure isn't > exactly cost-free. 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-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Revised: 20250507 You are receiving The Mifnet because you requested to join this list. The Mifnet is largely a labor of love, however the infrastructure isn't exactly cost-free. If you'd care to make a small contribution to the effort, please know that it would be greatly appreciated: https://wardell.us/url/mifbit All posts sent to the list should abide by these policies: 1) List members acknowledge that participation in Mifnet is a privilege--not a right. 2) Posts are always off the record, absent specific permission from the author. 3) The tone of discussions is collegial. 4) Posts are expected to be in reasonably good taste. 5) We discuss ideas and not personalities, and we don't speak ill of other Mifnet members. * The Mifnet WEB SITE is: https://www.mifnet.com/ * To UNSUBSCRIBE from this list at any time please visit: https://lists.mifnet.com/ OR: SEND THIS MESSAGE via email: mifnet-requ...@lists.mifnet.com?subject=leave * Send Mifnet mailing list POSTS/SUBMISSIONS to: mifnet@lists.mifnet.com * You may reach the person managing The Mifnet at: mifnet-ow...@lists.mifnet.com * Please consider the DIGEST version of The Mifnet, which consolidates all list traffic into 1-3 messages daily. See instructions at: https://lists.mifnet.com/ * Manage your personal Mifnet SUBSCRIPTION at: https://lists.mifnet.com/ * For a list of all available Mifnet commands, SEND THIS MESSAGE via email: mifnet-requ...@lists.mifnet.com?subject=help * View The Mifnet LIST POLICIES and PRIVACY POLICY at: https://mifnet.com/index.php/policies * View instructions for Mifnet DELIVERY PROBLEMS at: https://mifnet.com/index.php/delivery-problems * View The Mifnet LIST ARCHIVE at: https://lists.mifnet.com/hyperkitty/list/mifnet@lists.mifnet.com/
